Artway Indigo - Cotton Rag Paper Sketchbook - Concertina A5 Portrait - 36 Sides/18 Pages of 250gsm Mid Texture 100% Cotton Rag Paper - 100% Handmade, White

The media could not be loaded. I decided to run an advent watercolour challenge on my u tube channel and wanted something to concertina out day by day, this is a lovely book for the money, the paper is cotton, holds the water and paint well and has the characteristics you'd expect of a cotton paper. The paper is rough in texture and looks handmade , this means it is somewhat delicate compared to others on the market I use regularly, but as long as you steer clear of tape or masking fluid, it works wonderfully at a very reasonable price point and I'd definitely use it again.

I very rarely leave a product review unless something is awful.. this sketchbook is absolutely amazing, I wanted to make a sketchbook for our 2nd wedding anniversary, and it looks amazing, it's actually a little bit bugger than A5 (by a few mm, but more space is always a plus for me), the edges are beautiful, you can really tell this is an item made with love, it was even wrapped like a gift, an absolute treat for any artist!Amazing value for money, the water absorbency is perfect for my needs as I'm creating acrylic medium artwork, so uncertain how it would be for watercolour users.The size is perfect, it's got such a good ease of use, perfect for any traditional artist..Please treat yourself to this GEM! 💎

The paper is thick and textured, rough edged so no two pages are exactly the same, and is suitable for a variety of media. The cover is hard enough to offer a good base for sketching or painting on the go and the size makes it easy to carry. The elasticated band for closure is useful and a nice finishing detail. Good value for money for a slightly unusual sketch book, I love the one I got for myself, and the one I bought as a gift for a talented artist friend was equally well received. A lovely quality item which I would happily buy again.

Beautiful product, perfectly packaged and really lovely to use but there are a few things you need to be aware off if you purchase it...1. The paper is made from compressed cotton fibers but its not made like other wtaercolour paper and its really soft and therefore easy to tear top layers off.2. Low tack washi tape will rip the surface.3. Gently erasing pencil marks will tear up top surface of paper4. Masking fluid removal will tear up top surface of paper.5. Using cling film to create rock texture will not work well as paper surface is rough.6. Tracing does not work very well either, again because of rough surface texture.With all that said, i love painting on it and do recommend it.

Lovely, high quality paper inside a hard back cover.

The media could not be loaded. Beautiful paper giving up lovely textures. I have made a start on mixed media background using emulsion, watercolour and ink so far, with lots of spraying and as you can see in the video, no cockeling. Lots more pages to go.

It's strange paper for me, never before used anything like this. Just tried a little sample to see what the absorbtion rate of the paper was, it is very absorbant. Got to be quick if you want to lift anything out, but that goes for a lot of rag papers. The only downside comment I would make is the text for this product is incorrect as there are only 20 pages in the book and not 35 as stated. I did suspect that the detail was incorrect, but wanted it anyway to try out. I'm happy and now have to work out the best way to paint on it. To say it's 'rough' (torchon) paper is a bit incorrect too, it's a bit like painting on 'woodchip' wallpaper. Probably fun though once I get used to it. Loose painters, like one lady I know, will love it and I know she bought one.

I like that it's concertina, I like the rustic edges but...the paper seems to deaden the colours somehow so paintings that would be lovely and fresh on my Seawhites, tumuarta or Strathmore sketchbooks look very dull and washed out on this paper. I often sketch with a fountain pen which doesn't work at all well on this paper. The hardback is not very hard and bends easily so isn't very resilient for a handbag. I really want to like this sketchbook and I do think it's a lovely concept - concertina and handmade, but I don't love the paper for watercolours or ink work.